The National to leave Wellington

New show planned to kick off town's equestrian season

After six years in town, the National Horse Show - which kicks off the Wellington equestrian season - is leaving. But it's not taking the season with it.

The National's organizers announced on Monday that the horse world's oldest show is moving to Syracuse, N.Y. At the same time, Equestrian Sports Productions, the producer of the Winter Equestrian Festival, announced it would replace the National with a new event that is part horse show, part holiday celebration - a move designed to attract nonequestrians to the showgrounds.

"It's going to be almost more of a theatrical production," said Mark Bellissimo, Equestrian Sport Productions' owner. "We think we can use this as a kickoff to the holiday. This show will allow us to integrate into the community of Wellington."

It's not certain that Bellissimo's new show will completely fill the gap left by the National, said Victor Connor, president of the South Florida Hunter Jumper Association. He said that because the National was the Super Bowl of the equestrian world, all the top-level riders had to be in Florida for it. Now, they might delay coming down, he said. He said businesses might notice a slightly slower start to the season as a result.

"It's like replacing Wimbledon with another tennis match. It is a blow to Wellington," he said. "It's the same site at the same time, but some of the wind is taken out of the sails."

Bellissimo said he plans to spend more than $1 million on the new event, called Celebration of the Horse, and will turn the showgrounds into a holiday-themed park. He declined to provide details but said it would be similar to the Olympia Horse Show in London. In fact, it's being organized by Olympia's creator, Simon Brooks-Ward.

"It will be something the likes of which Wellington equestrians have never seen," Bellissimo said. "It will bring some identity and character to the community."

Organizers plan to hammer out the details of the Celebration of the Horse by late summer and start promoting the event in the fall, Bellissimo said. He said he expects the competition to attract more than the 600 horses that competed at the National this year.

"The National Horse Show in Wellington has not done well financially," he said. "It wasn't moving in the direction we were interested in."

While the National Horse Show kicked off the horse season, the show itself was never the biggest part of the more than $50 million pumped into Wellington's economy during the five months of events that followed, including the Winter Equestrian Festival and polo matches. Richard Wood, owners of Woody's, a boot repair shop, said he only remembered getting three repair orders ever from National participants. But he still said he'd miss the show.

"The National, it was great for the town, the prestige," he said. "But I never had any real repairs to be done."

Meanwhile the National is moving to Syracuse in order to return to its Northeastern roots, said Mason Phelps, the event's chairman. This year would have been the National Horse Show's seventh in Wellington. The show moved to the village from Madison Square Garden when New York City grew too expensive.

"It was never meant to find a home here," Phelps said. "It was the only option when we left New York. We'd love to go back to Madison Square Garden and start over. But we can't."

Moving to an indoor facility in Syracuse allows the National Horse Show to take place earlier in the year, Oct. 29 to Nov. 2, instead of the beginning of December. And it reunites the National with the Maclay National Championship, a prestigious junior finals competition that used to run with it in Madison Square Garden. Phelps also said the smaller facility will allow for fewer riders, making the National Horse Show more competitive again.

"It's just what's best for the National Horse Show," Phelps said.

Stephanie Horvath can be reached at smhorvath@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6643.